This is quite a special set. Ernest Ansermet met Igor Stravinsky in 1911, and the two became fast friends and professional colleagues (though they had their rough moments later on). Ansermet worked closely with the composer and premiered a number of his works, including Symphony of Psalms and Capriccio. Thus, many of these performances are informed with a real sense of authority and authenticity. Ansermet formed the Suisse Romande Orchestra in 1918, and though it never was what you would call a world-class ensemble, there were many instances when the players rose to the occasion for him (the use of “ringers” for recordings, especially in the wind section, didn’t hurt either), with results that have withstood the test of time.
It’s particularly interesting to compare Ansermet’s recordings–made between 1955 and 1964–with the composer’s own, especially when their approaches coincide, as in Le Sacre du Printemps. Like Stravinsky, Ansermet presents the work as a musical journey rather than a titillating spectacle, emphasizing melodic shape and contour, harmony and rhythm–not merely in a driving sense, but as distinct character within the drama. These virtues make this performance uniquely interesting, even as the orchestra struggles audibly in some passages–for instance, nearly throughout the Danse sacrale, which, like Monteux’s Boston recording, features a surprising suspended cymbal roll at the end.
In Petrushka, Ansermet (like Monteux and Bernstein) perfectly balances the music’s sweet and sour aspects, creating a real sense of the festive and fantastic. Fantastic applies as well to the world conjured by Ansermet’s Firebird, a refined yet volatile reading that connects the work to its roots in Rimsky-Korsakov. Song of the Nightingale comes from this same mysterious realm, but the music is now draped in harsh and glaring colors, well-projected by Ansermet’s players. Ansermet offers a rare complete version of Le Baiser de la fée, which is finely wrought but bested by the composer himself in his mono recording with the superlative Cleveland Orchestra.
Ansermet triumphs, however, in a magnificent performance of Pulcinella, played with verve and brilliance by the orchestra and charged with stellar singing by the soloists, particularly Boris Carmelli’s endearingly sung bass (a separate recording of the Pulcinella suite also is included). Moving beyond the ballets we come to L’Histoire du Soldat, which receives a sharply accented and stylistically attuned performance. More or less in the same realm are Suites 1 & 2 and the Four Etudes, this last better-sounding with Pierre Boulez’s driving rhythms and the Chicago Symphony’s burnished sonorities. On the other hand, Ansermet’s wind players have the perfect piquancy of sound for the Concerto for piano and wind instruments and for the Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, both handsomely played by Nikita Magaloff.
Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, and Symphonies for Wind instruments are among the finest versions available, notable for their exceptional rhythmic clarity, ensemble balance, color, and vibrancy. Symphony in Three Movements is particularly fine, classically driven in the first movement, delicately balletic in the Andante, and jaunty in the finale. This set also contains an appreciable selection of Stravinsky’s vocal music, including the rarely heard Renard in a compelling reading (sung in English) featuring vivid characterizations from the four excellent soloists. Symphony of Psalms suffers from slowish tempos and an overall gloomy cast that seems to deny the work sufficient energy. Ansermet’s bristling Les Noces is as hard-edged as the composer’s own, but an especially unique item is Mavra, a brief chamber opera on a libretto after Pushkin. The music at the outset appears to be in the same vein as Le Baiser de la fée, but Stravinsky soon settles in with a few harmonic/rhythmic patterns that will dominate the rest of the score as it tells the story of forbidden love. This fascinating little piece, well performed by the soloists and orchestra, is one of the gems of this 8-CD collection.
Despite the occasional near miss, Ansermet’s involvement with and devotion to the music of Stravinksy stands as a remarkable achievement. Decca has done amazing work with the sound of these recordings, removing the tubby bass that afflicted the original LPs. While the earliest, including Le Sacre and Song of the Nightingale reveal a dry acoustic and a noticeable degree of tape-hiss, the later ones like Pulcinella (complete), Mavra, and Renard have satisfyingly rich sound with plenty of depth and clarity. This must be ranked among the finest sets in Decca’s budget series, and for Stravinsky fans, an incalculably important release.
